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enWhy Banks Are Using Mobile Devices in Branches to Modernizehttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/why-banks-are-using-mobile-devices-branches-modernize%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>Digital banking has revolutionized the financial services industry. A sector that was built on personal relationships and one-on-one conversations with customers now provides access to its services with a couple of taps on a smartphone or clicks of a mouse. And in addition to daily banking, today’s customers also have simple investment tools at their fingertips — tools that weren’t available to them only a few decades ago. </p>
<p>There's comfort and convenience in digital banking. A <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/provident-bank-survey-shows-three-fourths-of-us-adults-prefer-digital-banking-services-300948161.html" target="_blank">recent survey</a> from Provident Bank found that more than three-fourths of customers preferred to deal with their bank through digital channels. It can also be a way to keep customers coming back, as 83 percent of respondents said that they are less likely to leave the bank once they’ve become accustomed to their digital offerings. </p>
<p>Where does the traditional branch fit into all of this? Despite overwhelming satisfaction with online banking tools, many customers still want in-person service. A recent <a href="https://insights.samsung.com/2018/06/07/why-smarter-branch-banking-should-be-your-next-priority-download-the-report/" target="_blank">Celent report</a> found that 77 percent of adults would rather have a face-to-face conversation for a substantive discussion about their finances. </p>
<p>While customers may still want to come into bank branches for advice on long-term financial planning, their expectations have shifted. Adding amenities like <a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2019/12/5-ways-digital-signs-improve-customer-experience-bank-branches">digital signage</a> and <a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2019/11/bank-cafes-aim-younger-customers-through-engaging-tech">cafes</a> to branches helps keep customers engaged, but banks are also relying on a tool often used for digital banking: mobile devices. </p>
Keara Dowdhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/why-banks-are-using-mobile-devices-branches-modernize%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3EKnowledge 2020: The Smarter Way to Workflow https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/knowledge-2020-smarter-way-workflow%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>Moving forward in the new normal, value chains will never be the same again. The organizations that embrace digital transformation — particularly when it comes to workflow — are the ones that can thrive in a difficult economy.</p>
<p>Despite a global recession, major brands like Disney and <a href="https://cybersecurity.att.com/app/servicenow" target="_blank">AT&T</a> are still accelerating growth and productivity. During ServiceNow’s <a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/events/knowledge">Knowledge 2020</a> event, industry leaders discussed how the ability to streamline their workflows through ServiceNow helped their businesses flourish.</p>
<h2>Disney Makes Lucrative Pivot to Streaming with ServiceNow</h2>
<p>Disney’s subscription numbers exploded when it stepped into the business of streaming last November. Its streaming service, Disney+, exceeded expectations by attracting over 50 million subscribers within the first few months of its release.</p>
Amelia Panghttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/knowledge-2020-smarter-way-workflow%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3EFind Accelerators and Startup Hubs That Support Young Businesseshttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/find-accelerators-and-startup-hubs-support-young-businesses%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>For young businesses, accelerators, incubators and startup hubs are often a vital bridge to success, providing entrepreneurs with everything from affordable shared office space to the mentorship of experienced executives and access to capital. Yet most of these organizations work behind the scenes, gaining little notice from the public whose local economies they’re helping to support.</p>
<p>Business accelerators, often run by universities, investors or private-public partnerships, can be found all around the country. Here’s a guide to some of the most well-regarded:</p>
<p><a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2020/05/tech-loaded-accelerators-support-startup-companies-success" target="_blank"><strong><em>MORE FROM BIZTECH: </em></strong><em>Tech-loaded accelerators support startup success.</em></a></p>
Bob Keaveneyhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/find-accelerators-and-startup-hubs-support-young-businesses%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3ESummer 2020https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/magazine/issue/2020/5/summer-2020%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/magazine/issue/2020/5/summer-2020%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3EQ&A: Businesses Need to Find Qualified Candidates for Tech Jobs in New Placeshttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/qa-businesses-need-find-qualified-candidates-tech-jobs-new-places%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>The tech talent shortage is very real — and may be worse than most people think. In one survey of more than 3,000 tech leaders,<br />
65 percent said hiring challenges are hurting the industry.</p>
<p>In a conversation with <em>BizTech</em>, Susanne Tedrick, a cloud platform technical specialist with a major ­technology company and author of the new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Women-Color-Tech-Generation-Technology/dp/1119633486" target="_blank"><em>Women of Color in Tech</em></a>, argues that l­eaders need to get more creative in their recruiting strategies and do more to s­upport the success of a diverse workforce.</p>
<h2><span style="color: #c74037;">BIZTECH:</span> Are businesses doing enough to recruit diverse workforces into technical jobs?</h2>
<p><strong>TEDRICK: </strong>They are definitely doing more than in the past. Businesses understand the s­trategic and financial imperative, and they are doing more with diversity and inclusion programs.The problem is they don’t go far enough. At times, the effort comes off as a marketing ploy versus something that’s meaningful. I applaud the fact that they’re putting more into these programs, but more needs to be done.</p>
Bob Keaveneyhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/06/qa-businesses-need-find-qualified-candidates-tech-jobs-new-places%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3EThe Simplicity of HCI Helps Businesses Manage Rapid Growthhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/simplicity-hci-helps-businesses-manage-rapid-growth%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>When Scott Barnhill started his job at NetDocuments in January 2016, the company was experiencing exponential growth. The cloud-based document management and productivity platform wanted to be best positioned for the future.</p>
<p>“I knew that the infrastructure I had wasn’t going to sustain that kind of growth,” recalls Barnhill, who is senior vice president of cloud operations for the company.</p>
<p>Like many growing organizations, the Lehi, Utah-based <a href="https://www.netdocuments.com/" target="_blank">NetDocuments</a> turned to a <a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2018/01/what-hyperconvergence-technology">hyperconverged infrastructure</a> (HCI), which replaces compute, storage and networking hardware with an integrated software-defined solution combining all three. A big draw is its scalability: Administrators can seamlessly ramp up HCI to accommodate organizational growth.</p>
<p>“We’re getting far more value for the money,” Barnhill says of NetDocuments’ Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure. “The load on our platform has doubled every 18 months. I can’t imagine dealing with that the way we were doing it before. We would have run out of data center space. Instead, we actually grew our company but shrank our data center footprint.”</p>
<p><a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2019/12/how-small-businesses-use-hci-get-more-each-it-staffer" target="_blank"><em><strong>LEARN MORE:</strong> Find out how small businesses use HCI to get more from each IT staffer.</em></a></p>
<h2 id="toc_0">HCI Supports Growth for All Organizations</h2>
<p>HCI is a good choice not only for gr­owing companies but for growing infrastructures. Rather than making a major capital expenditure amid other growth-related costs, organizations can start with a small HCI investment: a cluster of a few nodes that includes the compute power, storage and software to manage it all, says Sebastian Lagana, research manager for the infrastructure systems, platforms and technologies group at IDC. </p>
<p>If they need more power down the road, they can buy more nodes. “It’s a lot more bite-sized, and it has everything you need in one box,” Lagana explains.</p>
<p>Smaller organizations don’t even need to invest in a full-scale HCI appliance to get started.</p>
<p>“You could buy a certified general purpose x86 server, put a <a href="https://www.cdw.com/product/vmware-vsan-enterprise-plus-v.-7-license-1-processor/6030179?pfm=srh" target="_blank">VMware vSAN license</a> on it, and now you’re operating HCI,” he says. “If you have the appliance, it’s a little more elegant way to do it, and you’ll get more feature functionality out of it. But if cost is a big driver, using a certified server will work and follows a similar purchasing cycle as just going out and buying a general purpose x86 server.”</p>
Melissa Delaneyhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/simplicity-hci-helps-businesses-manage-rapid-growth%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3EWill Contactless Payment Become the New Normal for Retailers?https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/will-contactless-payment-become-new-normal-retailers-perfcon%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p>With conditions improving and stay-at-home orders easing, retailers are beginning to open their doors again. But it’s not business as usual. Owners and operators must now balance shoppers’ concerns about safety against sustainable sales potential. How do they ensure customers feel confident in stores while delivering consistent transaction volumes?</p>
<p>Retailers face an uphill battle: As noted by <em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/americans-widely-oppose-reopening-most-businesses-despite-easing-of-restrictions-in-some-states-post-u-md-poll-finds/2020/05/04/495ddc3a-8e36-11ea-9e23-6914ee410a5f_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a></em>, while more than half of Americans are still making trips to the grocery store “and feel comfortable doing so,” 67 percent say they would be uncomfortable shopping at a retail clothing store, and 78 percent won’t be heading to sit-down restaurants anytime soon.</p>
<p>While industry-specific challenges — such as creating safe procedures to try on clothes or handle the deluge of dirty dishes — will require tailored responses from relevant retailers, payment is a universal concern. Many shoppers and employees are uncomfortable handling cash, and while they may prefer debit and credit cards, there’s an even better option: contactless payment.</p>
<p>The infrastructure for this technology has rapidly evolved over the past few years, but implementation remains with early adopters. Yet current market conditions may provide just the push this no-touch process needs for the move to mainstream. Here’s what you need to know about how it works, where it doesn’t, what it requires and what’s next for contactless customer transactions.</p>
Bob Keaveneyhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/will-contactless-payment-become-new-normal-retailers-perfcon%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3ECisco Live 2020https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/ad/cisco-live-2020%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/ad/cisco-live-2020%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3ECisco Livehttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/events/cisco-live%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
https://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/events/cisco-live%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3ECisco Live 2020: What to Expect at the Virtual Eventhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/cisco-live-2020-what-expect-virtual-event%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E
<p><strong><em>Update:</em> </strong>Cisco Systems' announced that Cisco Live, its annual conference for customers, partners and analysts, will take place on June 16 and 17. Originally set for June 2 and 3, the company postponed the event out of respect for “all we see going on in the world and in the United States,” said CEO Chuck Robbins.</p>
<p><em>BizTech </em>will be on hand to cover all the keynotes and other sessions, interview thought leaders and discover Cisco’s latest tech offerings. <a href="https://biztechmagazine.com/events/cisco-live">Keep this page bookmarked</a> for articles and videos from the <em>BizTech</em> team.</p>
<p>The postponement is the second major shift this year for Cisco Live, considered one of the most important technology events of the year. With large in-person gatherings shut down for the time being, the company had already adapted the event into a virtual affair, condensing the conference from the usual four-plus days to two and focusing the content squarely on more than 40 webinarlike sessions.</p>
Bob Keaveneyhttps://biztechmagazine.com/%3Ca%20href%3D%22/article/2020/05/cisco-live-2020-what-expect-virtual-event%22%20hreflang%3D%22en%22%3Eview%3C/a%3E